45199769
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
The IRS wants to tax tech companies who provide employees with free food. Unfortunate timing because while the IRS looks at a new tax, the GAO has released a report criticizing the government for a high-level of waste as have Citizens Against Waste in their "Pig Book". I don't get free lunches, but what about free coffee?
39011513
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
The New Matilda reports how the US is now able to extradite people for minor offences, and asks why foreign governments so willingly give up their nationals to the US to 'face justice' over minor crimes committed outside US borders? Lawyer Kellie Tranter writes "the long arm of the Government is using criminal enforcement powers to enforce commercial interests at the behest of corporations and their lobbyists." A Former NSW Chief Judge said it was bizarre "that people are being extradited to the US to face criminal charges when they have never been to the US and the alleged act occurred wholly outside the US". He said although copyright violations are a great problem, a country "must protect its nationals from being removed from their homeland to a foreign country merely because the commercial interests of that foreign country." Australia recently "streamlined" its laws to make extradition to the US even easier.
37986191
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
The Age reports on creeping Australian government surveillance, beginning with the first operation launched on a baseless rumour. Six decades later the still-unaware victim read five months of transcripts with deep distress. Two decades ago few Australians would have consented to carrying a government-accessible tracking device, but phone and tablet data accessible without a warrant includes historic and real-time location data. In 2010-2011 there were 250,000 warrantless accesses by Federal agencies including ASIO, AFP, the Tax Office, Defence, Immigration, Citizenship, Health, Ageing, and Medicare. This is 18 times the rate of similar requests in the US.
37490561
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
Australian Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has flagged new laws to end anonymous trolling via Twitter: "Twitter should reveal the identities of the anonymous trolls who are breaking the law by abusing others online." The new laws were proposed after trolls attacked Footballer Robbie Farah. Farah was later granted a meeting with the Prime Minister to to discuss social media abuse. Ironically today it was revealed that Farah himself had trolled the Prime Minister telling her to "Get a Noose" on her 50th birthday. In related news Roxon has posted a video attacking activist group GetUp (like America's MoveOn) for opposing her anonymity-busting Internet surveillance laws.
37113135
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
Australian Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon has now fully backs a controversial plan to capture the online data of all Australians, despite only six weeks ago saying ''the case had yet to be made." The Tax Office, the Federal Police and the Opposition all support it, with Federal Liberal Party MP Ross Vasta declaring "the highest degree of scrutiny and diligence is called for." With all major parties on board, web monitoring of all Australians appears to be inevitable.
36216851
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
Australian Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has been forced to back down on her government's unpopular plan to force ISPs to store the web history and social networking of all Australians for two years. The plan has been deeply unpopular with the public, with hackers attacking the government's spy agency. Public servants at the spy agency promoting the scheme been scathing of the government saying: "These reforms are urgently needed to deal with a rapidly evolving security environment, but there isn't much appetite within the government for anything that attracts controversy," but a document on the scheme released under the Freedom of Information Act had 90% of it redacted to prevent "premature unnecessary debate." Roxon hasn't dropped the unpopular scheme entirely, but only delayed it until after the next election
21012416
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
Yesterday Australian Journalist Ben Grubb was arrested by Police at an IT Security Conference after an article Grub wrote about vulnerabilities in Facebook's privacy controls was published on Fairfax media websites. Grubb was later released, but Police have confiscated his iPad.
Late last month Police tried to force fellow Fairfax journalist Linton Besser into revealing who leaked information about corruption. At the time Fairfax Editor Peter Fray called it an unprecdented attack on the freedom of the press. Australia has no explicit right to free speech and lacks shield laws to protect investigative journalists from having to reveal sources.
17909678
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been arrested by London police on behalf of Swedish authorities on allegation of rape. Assange has admitted that he exhausted by the ongoing battle against authorities. The Swiss Government has confiscated $37K in his Swiss Bank account. PayPal and Mastercard have frozen Wikileak's accounts, hampering Wikileaks from raising any more funds.
Meanwhile Australian PM Julia Gillard and Attorney General Robert McLelland who had publicly accused Assange of illegal acts were unable to say what laws he had broken. The Opposition legal affairs spokesman George Brandis said "As far as I can see he hasn't broken any Australian law, nor does it appear he has broken any American laws." US Attorney General, Eric Holder said he had authorised significant actions aimed at prosecuting WikiLeaks founder but refused to elaborate. Sarah Palin called Assange "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands" and Mike Huckabee said "anything less than execution is too kind a penalty". Assange will be represented in London by human rights lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson QC.
13296414
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
Australian iPad buyers have been forced to buy all manner of unnecessary add-ons including screen protectors, docking stations, covers, chargers and extended warranties due to a reported Official Apple policy. Shoppers reported sales assistants said it was “company policy” or “Apple policy” to sell the devices only with accessories, or not at all. A store manager for Authorised Apple Reseller JB Hi-Fi said it was “a bad policy but it was Apple’s policy and they couldn’t sell one without it”. Other customers were told they must "buy a Telstra SIM because the iPad is locked to Telstra", even though it wasn't. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission and Consumer affairs are investigating the complaints.
What's the point of having Authorized Apple Resellers in this environment? Is it Official Apple policy? Don't look for any help from Apple; An Apple spokeswoman said "she could not comment on company policy", but did offer "consumers could buy iPads directly from us" without any add-ons.
10399100
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
Apple has been dealt a severe blow having been told that it no longer has a monopoly on the letter "i" for product naming. IP Australia, the government body that oversees trademark applications, rejected Apples' complaint against a company selling "DOPi" laptop bags. Last year Australian computer company Macpro Computers claimed that after 26 years of flying its own Macpro brand that Apple was "trying to burn us out" with legal fees. This was after Apple released its own Macpro line 3½ years ago. Apple lost that complaint, but is appealing. Last year Apple went after supermarket Woolworths complaining their new logo which featured a "W" fashioned into the shape of an apple. Woolworths sells real apples.
Are Apple's overzealous lawyers risking the company's goodwill by pursing so many frivolous cases? Could there be a backlash that would see Apple still profitable but as unpopular as Microsoft? Should iNTEL be worried?
9204462
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
Amazon has thrown in the towel and announced it will now sell books at Macmillan's increased prices; Up to $14.99 from $9.99. Said Amazon in a statement: "We will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books." Macmillan has sensed Apple's iBooks opens the way for higher prices.
Perhaps the question should be, do we even need publishers like Macmillian? Publishers have long managed to keep their old business model chugging along nicely despite the Internet; Academics are still forced to give up copyright of their work in exchange for publication. Textbook publishers have a history of unethical practices like frequent edition changes, unjustifiable price increases and bribing teachers. For that matter, why does the RIAA's members still control the music business? Why do these dinosaur publishing businesses still manage to thrive despite the Internet?
7262540
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
Children who feel they are being bullied, harassed or groomed online could call for help instantly using a "panic button" on their PCs under a plan by the Australian Government's cyber-safety working group. The button shall look like a "friendly dolphin", who will connect the child victim instantly to police or child protection groups. Australian Internet Censorship Advocate Hetty "Save the Children" Johnson says the Internet needs something like 000 or 911. Will this be another scheme wasting taxpayer dollars in lieu of parental supervison, or could it actually work? Are 1 in 4 children really sexually abused by the Internet? Can flaming and trolling be classified as bullying?
6920358
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
Glenn Beck fought the law and the law won. Parody website DidGlennBeckRapeAndMurderAYoungGirlIn1990.com attacked Beck using the same straw man arguments Beck himself is famous for: "We're not accusing Glenn Beck of raping and murdering a young girl in 1990 — in fact, we think he didn't! But we can't help but wonder ... Why won't he deny that he raped and killed a young girl in 1990?"
Beck didn't see the humour and tried to have the site shut down. He sued the creator on the grounds the site "violated his name as a trademark." But in a sudden outbreak of common sense, WIPO rejected Beck's complaint finding the site "can be said to be making a political statement," which is a "legitimate non-commercial use" of Beck's name. But after winning the owner voluntarily handed Beck the domain anyway. Still, it's comforting to know that satire — the only weapon politicians and talking heads fear — is still safely in the hands of the public where it belongs. And now that the trademark dispute is settled, will Beck answer the allegations?
6343767
submission
CuteSteveJobs writes:
Could Microscopy be in for a new golden age? Wired previews the desktop-sized Hitachi TM-100 Electron Microscope. Light microscopes can magnify up to 400X (1,000X albeit at lower quality) — just enough to see bacteria as shapes — but this one offers 20X to 10,000X giving some amazing pictures. Unlike traditional electron microscopes, this one plugs into a domestic power socket and specimens don't need any special preparation; It's point-and-shoot much like your typical digital camera. So easy, a grade-schooler could use it and earlier this year that's what happened: The kids at Iwanuma Elementary School in Miyagi, Japan got their own electron microscope. At $60,000 you'll have to give up on the BMW, but the hope is with economy of scale (so far 1,000 have sold) and miniaturization the price will continue to drop. The only bad news? It runs XP.
4605761
submission
Spooky McSpookster writes:
Microsoft has turned off its Windows Live Messenger service for five countries: Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan, and North Korea. Users in these countries trying to log in get the following error: "810003c1: We were unable to sign you in to the .NET Messenger Service." Why now, since this flies in the face of the Obama administration's softening on Cuba? This isn't the first time the US Trade Embargo has had questionable outcomes. US-based Syrian political activist George Ajjan created a web site promoting democracy in Syria, only to find GoDaddy blocked anyone inside Syria from seeing it.
ArsTechnica argues "Messenger is a medium for communication, and the citizens of these countries should not be punished from such a basic tool because the US has problems with their governments policies." What does this say for the wisdom of non-US citizens relying on US companies for their business or communication? What about Microsoft's Product Validation or "Genuine DisAdvantage"?
